Technology salaries in California largely rose during the first quarter over last year. But what's surprising about the figures are the slices of tech hat succumbed to a decline. Here's a quick snapshot of the numbers, which come from the state's Employment Development Department.
Shrinking Salaries
Surprisingly, database administrators posted a salary decline. That seems rather odd, given all the gushing that's gone on over the crucial role of data in businesses. But IT recruiter David Knapp, Robert Half Technology's Bay Area Metro-market manager, offered an interesting explanation. "In California, perhaps more than other parts of the nation, companies are transferring their information to the cloud and moving away from the need of having to host their data locally," he says. "So, they have less of a need to hire someone to administer their database." More baffling is the 6 percent decline for computer and information scientists. "These numbers make no sense to me," says Jon Holman, president of IT recruiting firm The Holman Group. Holman speculates that the massive hiring of grad students by Web and mobile companies may have pushed average compensation down. But he also surmises that the average starting salary may be up because of the tight IT labor pool. That would minimize or temper a salary decline. On the other hand, computer support personal saw an increase in salaries. It's well-deserved if you consider all the hand-holding they do to keep workers, well, working. Knapp says they're benefiting from a tight IT labor market as well as growth by the companies doing the hiring. "As companies hire more people, they need to hire more computer support," says Knapp. "Computer support (personnel are) usually hired based on the ratio of the number of people who work for the company." As for the salary bump for computer system analysts, Knapp says it's in line with the results his firm reported in its 2012 nationwide salary survey.
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